Almost 98% of ₹2,000 notes withdrawn: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said 97.92 per cent of the ₹2,000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023, have been returned till July 31, 2024.

The total value of the ₹2,000 notes in circulation has declined to ₹7,409 crore, at the close of business on July 31, 2024, from the ₹3.56 lakh crore on May 19, 2023 when the withdrawal of ₹2,000 banknotes was announced, per the central bank’s statement.

RBI emphasised that the ₹2,000 banknotes continue to be legal tender.

The central bank had announced the withdrawal of ₹2,000 banknotes from circulation as these notes were not commonly used for transactions and the stock of banknotes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public. Then, RBI also said the withdrawal is in pursuance of its “Clean Note Policy”.

The facility for deposit and/or exchange of the ₹2,000 banknotes was available at all bank branches in the country up to October 07, 2023. Post which, the banknotes are available for exchange at the 19 Issue Offices of the Reserve Bank (RBI Issue Offices) since May 19, 2023. From October 09, 2023, RBI Issue Offices are also accepting the ₹2,000 banknotes from individuals/entities for deposit into their bank accounts.

Further, members of the public are sending ₹2,000 banknotes through India Post from any post office within the country, to any of the RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts.